2007 American Vegetable Grower’s Top 100 Growers

Each year we survey and rank vegetable operations throughout the country for inclusion in this prestigious list. The largest 25 vegetable producers in each of four geographic regions are listed, along with the crops they grow and any change in their acreage during the past year. All rankings are based on final 2006 crop year figures.

This year, like many others, growers have dealt with numerous challenges. In addition to the usual problems such as pest pressure and adverse weather conditions, growers again had to come to grips with high fuel costs, increasing input prices, and the lack of a resolution to the labor and immigration problem.

Food safety continues to be an issue as growers work to reduce their risk of being the source a foodborne illness outbreak. At the same time, our country is facing the challenge of increasing consumption of fresh produce to help combat obesity. This is no time for the public to be doubting the safety of our nation’s food supply.

Top 25 – North

Rank	Company	Year Founded	2006 Acreage	Acreage Change	Crops Grown in 2006	HQ State	Previous Rank
1	R. D. Offutt Co.	1974	65,000	1,250	potatoes	ND	1
2	Hartung Brothers Inc.	1975	23,311	-1,532	snap beans, cucumbers, beets, peas, carrots	WI	2
3	Black Gold Farms	1928	15,023	2,023	potatoes	ND	5
4	Heartland Farms Inc.	1945	13,919	1,104	potatoes, peas, snap beans, sweet corn, carrots	WI	6
5	L. Walther Sons Inc.	1940	13,175	75	potatoes	MI	4
6	Paramount Farms Inc.	1957	12,900	-230	potatoes, sweet corn, green beans, peas	WI	3
7	Torrey Farms Inc.	1977	7,390	270	cabbage, cucumbers, peas, sweet corn, pumpkins, squash, zucchini, beans, onions, carrots, potatoes, other	NY	7
8	Tri-Campbell Farms	1978	7,200	400	beans, potatoes, watermelon	ND	10
9	Neumiller Farms Inc.	1965	7,070	170	potatoes, sweet corn, green beans	IL	9
10	Okray Family Farms, Inc.	1905	6,693	-331	potatoes, sweet corn, beans	WI	8
11	Sackett Ranch, Inc.	1980	6,388	-13	potatoes, sweet corn, peas, beans, pickles	MI	12
12	Charles H. West Farms	1953	6,331	1	beans, peas, cucumbers, sweet corn	DE	13
13	Wysocki Produce Farm, Inc.	1964	5,920	-491	potatoes, peas, snap beans, sweet corn	WI	11
14	Borzynski Farms Inc.	1973	5,875	-25	cabbage, sweet corn, bell pepper, greens, other	WI	14
15	Bula Gieringer Farms	1981	5,635	1,330	potatoes, sweet corn, peas, snap beans	EI	19
16	MY-T Acres	1961	5,155	20	snap beans, peas, beets, sweet corn, cabbage, carrots, potatoes	NY	15
17	Gary Bula Farms Inc.	1971	4,550	N/C	potatoes, snap beans, peas, sweet corn	WI	17
18	Anthony Farms Inc.	1962	4,550	-5	potatoes, beans, sweet corn	WI	16
19	Sowinski Farms Inc.	1932	4,450	625	potatoes	WI	21
20	Turek Farms	1969	4,380	30	sweet corn, beans, pumpkins, squash, cabbage	NY	18
21	Weekly Farms	1974	4,350	250	potatoes, beans, sweet corn, peas	WI	20
22	Kludt Brothers Inc.	1953	4,039	326	beans, sweet corn, cabbage, cucumbers, squash, carrots, peas, beets	NY	23
23	Worzella & Sons Inc.	1964	3,633	-121	potatoes, sweet corn, beans	WI	22
24	Lynn-Ette & Sons Inc.	N/A	3,260	N/A	beans, sweet corn, cabbage, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers	NY	–
25	Papen Farms Inc.	1920	3,225	-160	sweet corn, cabbage, beans, peas	DE	25

 

Top 25 – Southwest

Rank	Company	Year Founded	2006 Acreage	Acreage Change	Crops Grown In 2006	HQ State	Previous Rank
1	Navajo Agricultural Products Industry	1970	13,000	-2,328	beans, pumpkins, potatoes, onions	NM	1
2	Martori Farms	1940	9,730	730	melons, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage	AZ	2
3	Del Monte Fresh Produce	1991	7,986	1,000	cantaloupe, honeydew	AZ	5
4	Pasquinelli Produce Co.	1950	7,553	499	Lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, romaine, red leaf, green leaf, butter leaf, celery	AZ	4
5	Amigo Farms Inc.	1992	7,398*	N/C	cabbage, lettuce, watermelon, cantaloupes, radicchio	AZ	3
6	J & D Produce, Inc.	1986	6,000	N/C	cabbage, greens, pickles, onions, peppers, cantaloupe, carrots, tomato	TX	6
7	Jacks Produce Co.	2003	5,285	1,305	green beans, cabbage, lettuce, bell peppers, eggplant, squash	TX	12
8	Rousseau Farming Co.	1980	5,213	-658	broccoli, carrots, kale, parsley, leeks, cilantro, cabbage, radicchio, dry onions, celery, cantaloupe, watermelon, other	AZ	7
9	Barkley Co.	1945	4,500	N/C	lettuce, cantaloupe, broccoli, honeydew	AZ	8
10	Anderson Produce	1960	4,000*	N/C	watermelon	TX	11
10	Nakasawa Farms	1991	4,000*	N/C	broccoli, spring mix, bok choy, mix lettuce, cauliflower, endive escarole, frisee, head lettuce, napa cabbage, romaine, spinach	AZ	10
12	Waymon Farms	1984	3,776*	N/C	romaine hearts, mix lettuce, lettuce, romaine, broccoli, fenne	AZ	13
13	Texas Hill Farms	1984	3,300	-900	lettuce	AZ	9
14	Doug Mellon Farms	1946	2,949*	N/C	broccoli, lettuce	AZ	16
15	Sunfresh Farms	1989	2,910	580	broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, romaine, spring mix	AZ	20
16	Sakata Farms Inc.	1966	2,850	-200	sweet corn, onions, broccoli, cabbage	CO	15
17	Griffin Ranches Inc.	1960	2,800	341	celery, lettuce, mixed lettuce, broccoli	AZ	19
18	Sunny Valley Organics	1989	2,520	770	tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, mini peppers, cucumbers	AZ	–
19	Petrocco Farms	1985	2,325	-150	lettuce, cabbage, onions, greens, green beans, spinach, pepper, mix	CO	18
20	Winter Garden Produce	1992	2,150	175	cabbage, onions, broccoli, cantaloupe, carrots	TX	23
21	Bagley Produce Company, Inc.	1977	2,000	N/C	watermelon	TX	22
22	Frio Valley Farms Inc.	1997	1,922*	N/C	cabbage, onions, pickles, beans, beets, carrots, spinach	TX	24
23	Wyatt Hidalgo Farms, Inc.	1996	1,863	-1,578	cabbage, beans, peas, turnips, spinach, greens, carrots, onions, watermelon, cantaloupe	TX	14
24	Bill Burns Farms Inc.	2966	1,800	200	potatoes, onions	TX	–
25	Krenmueller Farms	1930	1,700	-203	cabbage, onions, cantaloupes, mixed greens, cilantro	TX	25
*estimated acreage

 

Top 25 – West

Rank	Company	Year Founded	2006 Acreage	Acreage Change	Crops Grown In 2006	HQ State	Previous Rank
1	Grimmway Farms	1970	46,650	3,500	carrots, potatoes, beans, organic crops	CA	2
2	Tanimura & Antle	1982	43,018	-12,046	lettuce, romaine, celery, cauliflower, broccoflower, broccoli, baby greens, spinach, asparagus, endive, escarde, cilantro, napa, radicchio, parsley, bok choy, tomatoes, garlic, melons, peppers, other	CA	1
3	D’Arrigo Bros. Co. of California Inc.	1923	33,305	-1,735	broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, other	CA	3
4	Mission Ranches	1988	22,000	500	head lettuce, romaine, mix lettuce, spinach, onion, parsley, endive, bok choy, napa cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, spring mix, celery, other, cilantro, radicchio	CA	5
5	Ocean Mist Farms/ Boutonnet Farms	1939	21,783	131	artichokes, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, celery, corn, peppers, beans, squash, onion, other	CA	4
6	Rio Farms	1978	17,250	N/C	head lettuce, mix lettuce, spring mix, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, pepper, onions, carrots, cabbage, celery, other	CA	6
7	Nunes Vegetables Inc.	1976	17,127	-95	lettuce, caulflower, celery, broccoli, leaf lettuce, romaine, green onions, asparagus, artichoke	CA	7
8	Betteravia Farms	1938/1962	15,835	1,004	cauliflower, broccoli, celery, lettuce, other	CA	8
9	J. G. Boswell Co.	1925	15,000	1,048	tomatoes	CA	10
9	Boskovich Farms Inc.	1915	15,000	5,000	onions, spinach, broccoli, asparagus, strawberries, corn, celery, radishes, cilantro	CA	17
11	Dresick Farms, Inc.	1974	14,500*	N/C	cantaloupes, honeydews, watermelon, tomatoes, lettuce, onions	CA	9
12	AgriNorthwest	1969	13,000*	N/C	potatoes, sweet corn, onions	WA	12
13	Wada Farms, Inc.	1942	12,557	-943	potoatoes	ID	11
14	R.C. Farms	1971	10,891	N/C	tomatoes, lettuce, artichokes, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, carrots, spinach, spring mix	CA	14
15	Teixeira Farms Inc.	1970	10,579	-695	broccoli, celery, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, strawberries	CA	13
16	Pride Of San Juan, Inc.	1995	10,346*	N/C	spinach, pepper, pumpkins, beets, carrots, endive, lettuce, greens, radicchio, herbs, melons, Chinese mustard, kale, leeks, tomatoes, other	CA	15
17	Larsen Farms	1969	10,028*	N/C	potatoes	ID	16
18	Merrill Farms	1933	8,800	40	lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, beans, onions, carrots	CA	19
19	Hale Farms	1950	8,613	N/C	potatoes, onions, peas, corn, carrots, lima beans	OR	20
20	Royal Packing Co.	1948	8,310	23	lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, cabbage, romaine	CA	21
21	Harris Farms	1937	8,235	-799	tomatoes, broccoli, onions, garlic, lettuce, watermelon, asparagus, peas	CA	18
22	American Farms LLC	1985	7,766	-1	spinach, broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower, mache, spring mix, romaine, frisee, herbs	CA	23
23	Bengard Ranch Inc.	1962	6,986	-1,194	broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, romaine, mix lettuce, celery, peas, radicchio	CA	22
24	Cranney Farms	1969	6,500*	N/C	potatoes	ID	24
25	Mercer Ranches	1968	5,268*	N/C	carrots, beans, sweet corn, potatoes, garlic, onions, other	WA	25
*estimated acreage

 

Top 25 – Southeast

Rank	Company	Year Founded	2006 Acreage	Acreage Change	Crops Grown In 2006	HQ State	Previous Rank
1	Thomas Produce Co.	1910	17,270	80	tomatoes, pepper, beans, cucumbers	FL	1
2	Hundley Farms Inc.	1969	15,362	321	sweet corn, radishes, beans, squash	FL	3
3	Pacific Tomato Growers Ltd./ Triple E Produce Corp.	1982	15,092	-285	tomatoes, pepper, squash, cucumbers, other	FL	2
4	A. Duda & Sons	1926	14,000	N/C	celery, radishes, onions, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, romaine/mixed, sweet peppers, onions	FL	4
5	Six L s Packing Co. Inc.	1947	13,000*	N/C	tomatoes, cantaloupes, eggplant, squash, pepper, watermelon	FL	5
6	Pero Family Farms Inc.	1986	9,600	N/C	pepper, cucumber, eggplant, squash, beans	FL	6
7	Gargiulo, Inc.	1963	9,500	N/C	tomatoes, potatoes	FL	7
8	R.C. Hatton Inc.	1945	8,500	1,800	sweet corn, green beans, watermelon	FL	9
9	Suwannee Farms/Eagle Island Farms	1979	7,604	N/C	potatoes, sweet corn, beans, greens, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, carrots	FL	8
10	Barnes Farming Corp.	1976	5,000	-735	sweet potatoes	NC	10
11	Patrick Farms Inc.	1950	4,700	N/C	greens, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, cucumber, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon, squash	GA	13
12	Ham Farms, Inc.	1975	4,600	430	sweetpotatoes, cucumbers, cabbage	NC	15
13	Dimare Homestead	1965	4,500	-300	tomatoes, watermelon	FL	12
13	Taylor & Fulton	1952	4,500	1,648	tomatoes	FL	19
15	Wendell Roberson Farms	1980	4,400	100	greens, cabbage, beans, peas, butterbean	GA	14
16	West Coast Tomato/McClure Farms	1973	3,700	500	tomatoes	FL	18
17	J.E.T. Farms /Integrity Farms Inc.	1974	3,645	-1,390	beans, squash, sweet corn	FL	11
18	4 Star Tomato Inc.		3,570*	N/C	beans, potatoes, tomatoes, watermelon	FL	16
19	Fresh Plants Inc., Bean Division	1991	3,313	N/A	green beans	GA	–
20	Green Circles Farm	1981	3,000	-275	sweet corn	GA	17
21	Jacksons Farming Co.	1981	2,715	-90	cantaloupes, watermelon, pumpkins, strawberries, greens, squash, cucumbers, honeydews, other	NC	20
22	Schilling Farms	1954	2,600	375	cucumbers, green beans	MO	23
23	George Wood Farms Inc.	1953	2,450	N/C	potatoes, broccoli	NC	22
24	DeWitt Produce Co Inc.	1986	2,412	-388	peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, eggplant, squash, tomatoes	GA	21
25	Williams Farms Ptr.	1993	2,400	N/A	tomatoes, pepper, squash, spinach, cucumber, watermelon, cantaloupe	SC	–
*estimated acreage